


our distant star

by rangerhitomi



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Beach House, Cuddling, M/M, On Planet Cray (Cardfight!! Vanguard), Sendou Aichi's Birthday, Stargazing, Using Psyqualia The Way God Intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24565474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: Aichi and Kai stargaze on the beach on a hot night, and then on another beach, because Earth isn't the only planet with a beautiful sky.
Relationships: Kai Toshiki/Sendou Aichi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	our distant star

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday to my favorite boy!

Summer is just around the corner; days are hotter and longer, nights are humid and shorter. Without a properly functioning air conditioner, sleeping in bed with a loved one can be uncomfortably hot. Even after tossing all the blankets onto the floor, Aichi is overheating. He and Kai have long since given up on sharing body heat through cuddling (a real crime, Aichi thinks; Kai is an expert cuddler), and both have discarded most of their clothing. The noisy fan at the window isn’t doing much good.

Aichi sits up to take another sip from the glass on the side table. The water is room temperature now, or rather, whatever temperature it currently is in the room, which is certainly nowhere near the proper definition of the term. He wrinkles his nose as he swallows it. “Want some water, Kai-kun?”

There’s an undignified sort of grunt from the bed next to him. Kai rolls over onto his back, arms outstretched. He frowns at the ceiling as though it is solely responsible for the heat. He’s grumpy; Aichi can’t help but smile.

“I’m about to take another cold shower.”

“That’ll be your third one tonight.” Aichi passes over the glass, which Kai takes as he sits up.

“How did we get stuck in the one cottage without a proper air conditioner?”

“It was the only one left at such short notice.”

Kai’s frown deepens. He sips at the water and makes a face. “Let’s go down to the ocean. It’s probably cooler down there.”

Aichi agrees; it’s a short walk from the cabin they rented on a whim to celebrate Aichi’s birthday together. No work, no noise, just each other (and a little Vanguard). They put on light shirts and shorts, grab a blanket to sit on and some water to stay hydrated, and head out into the warm night.

The air outside is cooler than inside, and Aichi sighs contentedly. They reach for the other’s hand in unison, an uncoordinated yet familiar gesture, and walk down the stone path to the beach in comfortable silence. Unlike earlier in the day, when they first arrived, the beach is empty; it is nearly two in the morning now. Without the hot sun beating down on the sand, the beach is warm, but not unbearable, and the salty breeze is comfortable. They set up their blanket as close to the waves as they can get without being soaked, and fall back on it together.

Kai closes his eyes, a smile forming. “That’s better.”

Aichi rolls to his side, taking in the sharp features of Kai’s face offset by the soft curves of his lips, the way his hair falls every which-way and flutters over his nose as he breathes, or as the wind rustles it. Aichi reaches for Kai’s waist, pulling himself closer even as his heart burns with affection, and Kai’s lips twitch in amusement.

“Couldn’t wait to do this again, huh?”

“It’s my birthday and I want to snuggle.”

“Of course.”

It’s still too warm for them to cuddle for long, so Aichi savors every second of it while it lasts, each inhalation of the soap on Kai’s slightly sweaty skin, the scent of the shampoo he uses in his hair.

“The stars are really bright tonight.”

Aichi tilts his head so he can see where Kai is staring. “Well, it’s a new moon and there’s way less light pollution out here...”

“Is that so.”

“You knew that.”

“I never asked this, but are there different constellations in America? Like, you know, Gemini or whatever...”

Aichi sits up slowly to give Kai an appraising look. “You’re teasing me on purpose, aren’t you Kai-kun.”

“Did I say something wrong?” Kai almost succeeds in putting on an impassive face but Aichi can see the faint twitch of his lips as he tries to hold back a laugh.

If this were Ren and not Kai, Aichi might think him serious, but Kai isn’t very good at cracking jokes and Aichi has a reason (well, many, if he’s not counting the number of people who ask him for his horoscope upon finding out he’s working toward a PhD in astronomy) for being irritated with the existence of astrology.

He sighs somberly. “When I was in high school I read a horoscope for Geminis saying that the star sign we’re least compatible with is Virgo and then Miwa-kun told me you were a Virgo and I was depressed for like two weeks—stop laughing, I was really upset!” He gives Kai a playful punch to the shoulder as Kai’s entire body shakes with laughter. “I haven’t trusted horoscopes since!”

He lets Kai tug him back down and pull him into his chest again.

“Well, we’re soulmates in the end, so I guess that horoscope was way off base.” Kai laughs a little to himself again. It may have been a casual comment, but it brings Aichi immeasurable peace. “But part of my question was serious, are American constellations different?”

Aichi is a shy person by nature. He rarely talks out of turn and is easily embarrassed. But there are three things that, once he starts talking about, he can’t stop, and those things are Vanguard, Kai Toshiki, and astronomy. So he launches into some of the more common constellations—Kai is fascinated that the Big Bear and Little Bear are known as “Dippers” in America—and about some of the planetary systems they had discovered in the past few years.

When Aichi finally pauses to sort through the million thoughts plaguing him, Kai asks a simple question that causes everything Aichi was starting to think about to get shunted to the back of his mind. “Do you think Cray’s sun is a star we can see from here?”

This question has followed Aichi from his undergraduate days in America all the way through to his current doctoral work at the University of Tokyo. He had never told any of his advisers that his ultimate goal was to discover Cray—the real planet Cray—because he worried they would try to force him to abandon chasing after a world they believed was entirely fictional. But still he researches habitable planets and star systems capable of sustaining life, because he truly believes he will find Cray someday. The things he discovers every day about the universe are worth the work.

“I’m sure it is.”

Kai squeezes his eyes shut, brows furrowed and a frown on his face as though trying to recall something only distantly familiar. “I wonder… what it’s like, now.”

Aichi’s heart skips a beat, memory hearkening back to a time when he could only dream of being close to Kai. Simpler times, in many ways, when all he had to worry about was doing well in school and trying to catch the attention of the boy he secretly liked, but they were the most formative years of his life. His Psyqualia had torn them apart until Kai had shown Aichi his true inner strength, and in the years after, Aichi had never again felt the temptation of using it in a fight.

Yet, he could never truly let it go, even a decade later, because it was his most powerful connection to the world that had captured his imagination and saved his life from that crushing loneliness he had once felt for so, so long.

“Kai-kun,” he ventures quietly, “if… if you want...”

They hadn’t talked about it in all this time, either.

“If I want what?”

Aichi takes a breath, hoisting himself up on his hands and knees until he is hovering over Kai, who looks up at him with a mildly puzzled tilt of the head.

“Aichi?”

“Would you like to go to Cray with me?”

The frown returns. “Would I like to… what?”

“Go to Cray.” Aichi clasps his hands in his lap. “I know you hated it but I… it’s a precious gift, it’s not—”

“Are you talking about Psyqualia?”

Aichi breathes heavily again. “Yes.”

To his surprise, Kai smiles. “Aichi…”

“I use it, sometimes. When things feel like too much. It’s calming. I never told you, but...”

“Aichi.”

Kai grips Aichi’s hands and pulls him down, gentle as he always is; Aichi’s body presses against Kai’s while Kai holds him tightly, one arm around Aichi’s waist with his other hand on the back of Aichi’s head. His slender fingers thread through Aichi’s hair—it’s getting long again, isn’t it, Aichi finds himself thinking—until Aichi can’t hold back a smile of his own as he leans in for a kiss.

“Let me imagine it with you,” Kai whispers against Aichi’s lips, and Aichi lets the power flow through him.

* * *

They aren’t lying on the beach when their eyes open; instead, they’re standing on one, overlooking a sea so blue and clear it doesn’t seem real. But it is. Everything is real here, from the moons and the neighboring planets hanging low in the sky—they look close enough to reach out and touch, but Aichi knows they are millions of miles away—to the rocky sand between their toes, which Psyqualia has always let him feel. The stars are so bright it doesn’t feel like nighttime, a fact Kai remarks on as he wraps his arm around Aichi’s shoulders, and they glitter on the still ocean waters like tiny lights on glass.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

It takes Aichi a moment to realize Kai was looking not at the ocean nor the sky anymore, but at him; Aichi marvels at the fact that despite the cheesiness of the sentiment, Kai still has the ability to make Aichi’s chest flutter, to give him butterflies in his stomach, to make him blush like a child, and how he could still have a vice grip on Aichi’s heart.

He leans into Kai, in part for his comfort and in part to hide the pink in his cheeks. “Is this… nice?”

Kai tucks a strand of Aichi’s hair behind his ear and tilts Aichi’s chin up with two fingers.

Ah, if there was anything the beauty of Cray couldn’t match, it was the beauty of Kai Toshiki.

Flinging his arms around Kai’s neck, Aichi pushes their lips together again, marveling in the sensations of excitement and nervousness and passion and, above all, _love._

“It’s wonderful.”

A strange laugh escapes Aichi’s throat, caught somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. He nestles his head in the curve of Kai’s neck, arms still wrapped around Kai’s shoulders; Kai, his hands still holding Aichi’s lower back, begins to sway. Whether it’s subconscious or intentional, the gentle rocking, combined with the smell of the crystalline ocean water and gentle rustle of the wind on the water and the smell of _Kai_ makes Aichi so comfortable he could almost fall asleep standing in Kai’s arms. His eyelids droop.

“Let’s do this again soon,” Kai whispers into Aichi’s hair.

Aichi hums in sleepy agreement. Closes his eyes. Relaxes. Breathes in. Out. Slowly…

Slowly...

* * *

When his eyes open again, he is lying on the ground with his head on Kai’s chest and Kai’s arm around his shoulders. When he notices Aichi waking, Kai smiles and brushes Aichi’s hair with his fingers.

“Good morning.”

It’s a beach, but not on Cray. They’re back on Earth, back at the beach they had fallen asleep on because it had been too hot in their little cottage. It feels nice now, with a stronger morning wind and the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. The sky is a mix of warm oranges and reds.

“Morning...”

“I haven’t gotten to wake up to the sunrise with you since you were getting your master’s degree.”

Aichi grimaces at the memories of drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee as he pulled countless all-nighters preparing for his comprehensive examinations. “That’s because I never went to sleep.”

Kai gives him an airy sort of laugh as he kisses the top of Aichi’s head. “Speaking of, you fell asleep standing up last night.”

“Did I?” Aichi yawns. He presses his face back in Kai’s chest. “That’s a new one.”

“It was cute.”

“Y-yeah?” Aichi is glad his face is buried in Kai’s shirt, because he’s blushing. No one but Kai could make him this flustered after so many years.

“Mm-hmm.” Kai rubs Aichi’s back. “Come on, let’s get up and cook breakfast before it gets too hot to cook indoors.”

They collect their blanket and water bottles and head back up the stone pathway toward their cottage, that comfortable silence falling between them again, but that gentle way Kai smiles and the perfect fit of their hands are all the comfort Aichi needs.


End file.
